duhvoodooman
Addicted to solder....
...and there are some GREAT values out there! Pretty crazy the quality, features and playability you can get for a fraction of what the better known brands go for. Here are the last five guitars I've purchased; all five were made in Asia--four in China and one in Indonesia:
M-Musi Virgo Fusion: Saw this reviewed on YouTube and purchased one new on Amazon for $360. Mahogany body, roasted maple neck w/ compound radius & rosewood fingerboard, stainless steel frets, locking tuners, bone nut and truss rod adjustment wheel at the bottom of the neck. Came perfectly set up and plays great. The humbuckers sound very good, and it even has a cool metal-flake finish that looks either dark blue or purple depending on your viewing angle. Only thing I added was a string tree for the top two strings because the break angle over the bridge was too shallow IMO.
Sire T7: This one was the most expensive of the five, and I bought it used on Reverb for $500 (this model currently sells new for $769, including some upgrades from my older version). Sire also makes a cheaper T-style (also well reviewed), but I preferred the specs on this one. Alder body in Fiesta Red, roasted maple neck with rolled edges & 9.5" radius, bone nut, medium-jumbo frets, locking tuners, compensated brass saddles. The previous owner had already installed a 4-way switch, a modification I almost always do on Teles with single coils. I wasn't thrilled with the stock pickups and switched to a set of Duncan Quarter Pounders which I much prefer. This one plays great, too. Made in Indonesia.
Harley Benton TE-52 Natural: I think almost all guitar players are familiar with this brand created by Thomann Music in Germany and produced for them in China--pretty much legendary for bang-for-the-buck. Based upon my experience, this reputation is well founded. Though not as full featured as these other guitars, it was also only $229 delivered, so I didn't feel badly about doing a number of upgrades. These included a 4-way switch, Graph Tech string trees, compensated brass saddles, locking vintage tuners, and a set of GFS Professional Series '63 Tele pickups. In stock form, the guitar arrived well set up, beautifully finished, and with no discernible quality issues. The satin-finish roasted maple neck feels great and plays like butter. About the only drawback is the weight, which is a hefty 9 lbs. I play seated, so that's really not an issue for me.
EART GW-2 Headless: Bought this one on a whim, but I'm actually pretty impressed with it. I've never played a Strandberg, which this guitar is pretty clearly patterned after, but the people at EART in St. Louis have done a very credible design job on this model, and the build quality (China) is excellent. The licensed KD bridge design, in particular, is quite clever and there's a very helpful YouTube video HERE showing how to adjust the unit, including string height, intonation, string changes and tuning. The body is a mahogany-like wood called padauk with an attractive reddish-brown color, with a burled poplar veneer on top. The roasted maple/padauk 5-piece neck has a satin-finish, rosewood fingerboard, hand-polished stainless steel frets, and a 9.5” to 14” compound radius. I find it very comfortable to play. The humbuckers sound very good to my ear, and I feel no need to upgrade them. I paid $389 on Amazon, though they've gone up a bit since.
Firefly John5 "Ghost": Here's my latest purchase, and I'd have to say the most impressive value among the five. The features and build quality of this take on the "Ghost" Telecaster played by noted guitarist John5 (Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Motley Crue) are truly exceptional at the price. I bought the guitar on Firefly's website, GuitarsGarden.com, for $257 delivered and I would say it's worth at least 5 times that. In addition to being a stunning looking guitar (though vintage purists may disagree!), check out the feature list: roasted mahogany body, roasted flamed male neck (satin finish, rosewood fingerboard, 9.5"-14" compound radius), stainless steel frets, locking tuners, alnico 5 humbuckers, bone nut, contoured cutaway and belly cut, 3-way pickup selector, master volume control and momentary kill switch. The only change I made was substituting Graph Tech string trees for the stock metal ones for smoother tuning performance. The guitar plays and sounds just great, and if you'd like a bit more confirmation of that, there are several reviews posted on YouTube that all basically say that same thing. If I was Fender, these Firefly guitars would have me very worried!
So those are my five most recent guitar acquisitions and I am just blown away by the quality, features and playability that you can get for crazy-reasonable prices! Feel free to post any follow-up questions and I'll do my best to answer them.
M-Musi Virgo Fusion: Saw this reviewed on YouTube and purchased one new on Amazon for $360. Mahogany body, roasted maple neck w/ compound radius & rosewood fingerboard, stainless steel frets, locking tuners, bone nut and truss rod adjustment wheel at the bottom of the neck. Came perfectly set up and plays great. The humbuckers sound very good, and it even has a cool metal-flake finish that looks either dark blue or purple depending on your viewing angle. Only thing I added was a string tree for the top two strings because the break angle over the bridge was too shallow IMO.
Sire T7: This one was the most expensive of the five, and I bought it used on Reverb for $500 (this model currently sells new for $769, including some upgrades from my older version). Sire also makes a cheaper T-style (also well reviewed), but I preferred the specs on this one. Alder body in Fiesta Red, roasted maple neck with rolled edges & 9.5" radius, bone nut, medium-jumbo frets, locking tuners, compensated brass saddles. The previous owner had already installed a 4-way switch, a modification I almost always do on Teles with single coils. I wasn't thrilled with the stock pickups and switched to a set of Duncan Quarter Pounders which I much prefer. This one plays great, too. Made in Indonesia.
Harley Benton TE-52 Natural: I think almost all guitar players are familiar with this brand created by Thomann Music in Germany and produced for them in China--pretty much legendary for bang-for-the-buck. Based upon my experience, this reputation is well founded. Though not as full featured as these other guitars, it was also only $229 delivered, so I didn't feel badly about doing a number of upgrades. These included a 4-way switch, Graph Tech string trees, compensated brass saddles, locking vintage tuners, and a set of GFS Professional Series '63 Tele pickups. In stock form, the guitar arrived well set up, beautifully finished, and with no discernible quality issues. The satin-finish roasted maple neck feels great and plays like butter. About the only drawback is the weight, which is a hefty 9 lbs. I play seated, so that's really not an issue for me.
EART GW-2 Headless: Bought this one on a whim, but I'm actually pretty impressed with it. I've never played a Strandberg, which this guitar is pretty clearly patterned after, but the people at EART in St. Louis have done a very credible design job on this model, and the build quality (China) is excellent. The licensed KD bridge design, in particular, is quite clever and there's a very helpful YouTube video HERE showing how to adjust the unit, including string height, intonation, string changes and tuning. The body is a mahogany-like wood called padauk with an attractive reddish-brown color, with a burled poplar veneer on top. The roasted maple/padauk 5-piece neck has a satin-finish, rosewood fingerboard, hand-polished stainless steel frets, and a 9.5” to 14” compound radius. I find it very comfortable to play. The humbuckers sound very good to my ear, and I feel no need to upgrade them. I paid $389 on Amazon, though they've gone up a bit since.
Firefly John5 "Ghost": Here's my latest purchase, and I'd have to say the most impressive value among the five. The features and build quality of this take on the "Ghost" Telecaster played by noted guitarist John5 (Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Motley Crue) are truly exceptional at the price. I bought the guitar on Firefly's website, GuitarsGarden.com, for $257 delivered and I would say it's worth at least 5 times that. In addition to being a stunning looking guitar (though vintage purists may disagree!), check out the feature list: roasted mahogany body, roasted flamed male neck (satin finish, rosewood fingerboard, 9.5"-14" compound radius), stainless steel frets, locking tuners, alnico 5 humbuckers, bone nut, contoured cutaway and belly cut, 3-way pickup selector, master volume control and momentary kill switch. The only change I made was substituting Graph Tech string trees for the stock metal ones for smoother tuning performance. The guitar plays and sounds just great, and if you'd like a bit more confirmation of that, there are several reviews posted on YouTube that all basically say that same thing. If I was Fender, these Firefly guitars would have me very worried!
So those are my five most recent guitar acquisitions and I am just blown away by the quality, features and playability that you can get for crazy-reasonable prices! Feel free to post any follow-up questions and I'll do my best to answer them.
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